Well your humble opinion is just that - an opinion, and it's wrong - according to the Jayco owner's manual. They recommend a mild dish soap (because you know, it's mild) and recommend AGAINST washANDwax products. I'm just going to leave this here:

Not to be argumentative, or cause offense. However, it says "mild soap or detergent". It does not say "Mild Dish soap".

Dish soaps, especially dawn are designed to breakdown oil and grease, often left on dish and cooking utensil surfaces when cooking and eating. Which is why Dawn has been used so successfully with oil coated water fowl and other animals stuck in oils spills and slicks. All wax products and many paint products have a petroleum base to them. So the science is easy to see how Dawn and other dish soaps which are designed to break down petroleum distillates from cooking oils and other oils, will also break down the wax coatings. Softening paint will occur after prolonged exposures (i.e., leaving it on to soak and not rinsing it off.

In the end. To each his own. I have never seen or heard of anyone stripping the paint or roof off of an RV or car when they have utilized a dish soap to wash them. I have heard of roofs deteriorating when washed and scrubbed with the wrong product and when left unwashed. Personally, I believe the key is not what you use to wash the dirt off, but rather what you put back on it to protect the finish after you wash it.

Not to be snarky but that says mild liquid soap, not mild dish soap. It suggests car wash shampoo

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You're right - they don't use the word "dish." Though I'd consider "mild" something I'd be comfortable washing a surface with that may then later need to contain foods or liquids I'd later store on/in and use to consume & ingest from.

Likely you're fine with anything between dish soap and car shampoo so long as it isn't wash & wax type, and a dish soap type that explicitly says "Cuts through grease." Joy is a good dish soap that's mild - heck we use it to make bubbles for the kids when mixed with corn syrup and water.

Aren't dish soaps almost by definition "grease cutters"? Mild or not, I would not want a dish soap that didn't "cut through grease". How does a dish soap clean a dish if it doesn't "cut through grease".

And certainly Dawn, as mild as it is, definitely cuts through grease.

Quote:

Originally Posted by armyturtle

You're right - they don't use the word "dish." Though I'd consider "mild" something I'd be comfortable washing a surface with that may then later need to contain foods or liquids I'd later store on/in and use to consume & ingest from.

Likely you're fine with anything between dish soap and car shampoo so long as it isn't wash & wax type, and a dish soap type that explicitly says "Cuts through grease." Joy is a good dish soap that's mild - heck we use it to make bubbles for the kids when mixed with corn syrup and water.

Well your humble opinion is just that - an opinion, and it's wrong - according to the Jayco owner's manual. They recommend a mild dish soap (because you know, it's mild) and recommend AGAINST washANDwax products. I'm just going to leave this here:

No where does it say "dish" soap, but "liquid" soap which 95% of auto/boat/RV washes are liquid soap...just saying...and so is consumer reports as well...

"use household cleaning agents like hand soap, dishwashing detergent, or glass cleaner on the paint. These aren't formulated for use on a car's paint and may strip off the protective wax. Do... use a dedicated car-wash product, which is milder and specifically designed for use on automotive paint."

In the Jayco recomendations I did not see the word "dish". It does state "a mild liquid soap". A soap or detergent made for dishes WILL strip any wax you have on the surface, A product made for washing automotive or rv surfaces should not. I prefer a soap that is neutral PH.

Prior to this trailer I always used a car wash solution. When we bought this trailer our dealer recommended a product called Voom. I was skeptical but since we had 15% off anything that day I bought a gallon. I must say that it is the best cleaner I have ever used. I use it on the awning now, nothing I've used on the awning has been able to get it as clean as it is now. I'll be cleaning the roof before putting it in hibernation for the winter and I'm anxious to see how well this stuff does on it.

Regarding the ability of dish soap to soften paint, Sean you're the only person I've ever seen say that. I've been painting cars and restoring paint since I was 16. Dish soap isn't the best thing for any paint, but it won't soften it either. Unless maybe you leave it on the paint for hours? That would be an interesting test. The other thought is that the paint used on RVs is not the same as used on cars.